Daniel Dubois vs Fabio Wardley 2: Fight Preview, Date and Undercard

Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley meet again on Saturday with the WBO heavyweight title at stake. Their first fight had just about everything: Wardley put Dubois down twice, but Dubois came back to stop him in the 11th round. That makes this rematch hard to call on paper, even with the champion already having proved he can survive Wardley’s best shots. The card is at London’s O2, with DAZN PPV broadcasting and the British Boxing Board of Control overseeing proceedings.

Main Event

Daniel Dubois (23-3-0) defends against Fabio Wardley (20-1-1), five months after their first meeting ended with Dubois taking Wardley’s WBO belt by stoppage. Wardley has said he has studied the defeat and believes he made small mistakes repeatedly; he has also been clear that he wanted the rematch quickly. The main question is can he make the right corrections without losing the aggression that helped him hurt Dubois early?

Dubois, meanwhile, has already answered one big question about himself: he can be dropped and still keep coming. Wardley will know that simply landing hard isn’t enough; the first fight showed how quickly momentum can swing between two heavyweights with this kind of power. I’m most interested in whether Wardley boxes with a little more patience this time, or whether the rematch pulls them straight back into another exchange-heavy fight.

Co-Main / Key Fights

Louie O’Doherty (12-0-0) faces Michael Gomez Jnr (23-2-0) in a lightweight contest. O’Doherty is putting his British and Commonwealth titles on the line, making this the bill’s other title fight. He won those belts against Ahmed Hatim in May, while Gomez comes in after a stoppage win over Lee McGregor at the same event. That gives the unbeaten champion a first defence against an opponent with a recent statement win of his own.

 

There is another heavyweight match-up as Bakhodir Jalolov (17-0-0) takes on Solomon Dacres (10-1-0). Jalolov’s unbeaten record meets Dacres’s chance to make a mark on a major bill.

Unbeaten Nelson Birchall (12-0-0) meets Levi Giles (17-3-1) at super featherweight. Giles brings more professional experience; Birchall brings the unbeaten record.

Undercard

Tony Curtis (14-1-0) faces Kerim Agius (6-1-2) at super flyweight.

Featherweight Manny Safari makes his debut against Jake Pollard (1-121-1).

Fawas Aborode (2-0-0) meets Rashid Omar (8-9-0) at lightweight.

Featherweight Leighton Birchall (5-0-0) takes on Alejandro Morales Chazaro (9-9-2).

At heavyweight, Adam Olaniyan (4-0-0) boxes Dan Garber (14-9-0).

Aaron Noriega (2-0-0) meets Leonardo Baez (5-21-0) at super featherweight.

Also at super featherweight, Zayn Ahmed (3-0-0) faces Kasey Bradnum (1-50-0).

Middleweights Issiah Hamilton-Allen (3-0-0) and Jensen Irving (6-40-2) round out the card.

Dubois already has the belt and the win. Wardley gets the chance to change both parts of that story. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!

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